David Hockney: The Blue Guitar

This exhibition is now closed

A suite of 20 etchings by this leading international artist, produced in 1976/77 and published by the Petersburg Press, London in 1977. The etchings record Hockney's reaction to Wallace Stevens' poem of the same name. The artist states that "the etchings themselves were not conceived as literal illustrations of the poem but as an interpretation of Its themes in visual terms. Like the poem, they are about transformations within art as well as the relation between reality and the imagination, so there are pictures within pictures and different styles of representation juxtaposed and reflected and dissolved within the same frame".

This exhibition is a part of a composite exhibition titled Paperchase curated by the Robert McDougall Art Gallery as its contribution to the Christchurch Festival. As the title suggests, paperworks in their many forms will be featured.

('The Blue Guitar', Bulletin, No.31, January/February 1984, p.2)

Exhibition number 306

  • Date:
    25 February – 22 April 1984